AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF
Application No. 31851/96 Application No. 31852/96
by Oguzhan MÜFTÜOGLU by Nasuh MiTAP
against Turkey against Turkey
The European Commission of Human Rights (Second Chamber) sitting
in private on 21 May 1997, the following members being present:
Mrs. G.H. THUNE, President
MM. J.-C. GEUS
G. JÖRUNDSSON
A. GÖZÜBÜYÜK
J.-C. SOYER
H. DANELIUS
F. MARTINEZ
M.A. NOWICKI
I. CABRAL BARRETO
J. MUCHA
D. SVÁBY
P. LORENZEN
E. BIELIUNAS
E.A. ALKEMA
A. ARABADJIEV
Ms. M.-T. SCHOEPFER, Secretary to the Chamber
Having regard to Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
Having regard to the applications introduced on 31 May 1996 by
Oguzhan MÜFTÜOGLU and Nasuh MiTAP against Turkey and registered on
12 June 1996 under file Nos. 31851/96 and 31852/96;
Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules
of Procedure of the Commission;
Having deliberated;
Decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicants are Turkish citizens. Oguzhan Müftüoglu, born in
1944, resides in Istanbul and Nasuh Mitap, born in 1947, resides in
izmir. They are represented before the Commission by Ahmet Atak, a
lawyer practising in Ankara.
The facts of the case as submitted by the applicants may be
summarised as follows.
The applicants, accused of being members of the organisation
Dev - Yol (Revolutionary Way), were taken into police custody in Ankara
on 23 January 1981 and 22 January 1981 respectively, and were
subsequently detained on remand upon decision of the Ankara Court-
Martial on 23 April 1981.
The applicants lodged a criminal complaint with the military
prosecutor attached to the Court-Martial, complaining of acts of
torture that they had suffered at the hands of the Ankara police.
On 8 March 1982, the military prosecutor preferred criminal
charges against the police officer B.P. in the Ankara Court-Martial.
In a judgment of 13 April 1983, the court acquitted B.P., on the ground
that there was insufficient evidence against him.
On 26 February 1982, the military prosecutor filed a bill of
indictment in the Court-Martial against altogether 723 defendants
including the present applicants.
It was alleged that the applicants were members of an illegal
organisation in which they also played a leading role, the aim of which
was to undermine the constitutional order and replace it with a
Marxist-Leninist regime, that they had advocated the need to set up
resistance committees against attacks by extreme right-wing militants,
and that they had instigated a number of violent acts. The prosecution
called for the applicants to be sentenced pursuant to Article 146 of
the Turkish Criminal Code.
In a judgment of 19 July 1989, the Court-Martial in Ankara found
the applicants guilty of the offences as charged, and sentenced them
to life imprisonment.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain that they did not have a fair trial as
the courts based their reasoning on statements which they made to the
police under duress, which is contrary to Article 6 para. 1 of the
Convention.
THE LAW
The applicants complain under Article 6 para. 1 (Art. 6-1) of the
Convention that they did not have a fair trial as their statements made
to the police under duress constituted the grounds of the court's
decisions.
However, the Commission recalls that, by virtue of Article 27
para. 1 (b) (Art. 27-1-b) of the Convention, the Commission may not
deal with an application if it contains "substantially the same facts
and complaints" (No. 8206/78, Dec. 10.7.81, D.R. 25, p. 150) as a
former application.
The Commission notes that the applicants, in their previous
applications (Nos. 15530/89 and 15531/89), have presented substantially
the same facts and complaints, supported moreover by copies of the same
decisions. These applications have already been examined by the
Commission and the Court.
It follows that the applications must be rejected in accordance
with Article 27 para. 1 (b) (Art. 27-1-b) of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Commission,
DECIDES TO JOIN APLLICATIONS No. 31851/96 and 31852/96;
unanimously,
DECLARES THE APPLICATIONS INADMISSIBLE.
M.-T. SCHOEPFER G.H. THUNE
Secretary President
to the Second Chamber of the Second Chamber
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy